Partners in Crime!
by hanakotoba
Summary: Young Detective Yamamoto gets Hibari as his partner! Best or worst combo ever? Well, with a world full of assassins, losers, secrets, pineapples, vendettas, herbivores, and everything but logic, there's no time to ponder. AU Vongola members as police!
1. Special Investigations Office revived!

AU: In which Hibari and Yamamoto are policemen, and partners on the job.

Loosely based on a popular Japanese police show called Aibou

Disclaimer: I do not own KHR or Aibou

"Hey so I hear you're finally getting assigned a partner, Yamamoto!"

Yamamoto looked around at the voice that had shouted cheerfully at him, "Good morning Sasagawa-senpai! And yes, I'm very excited about that."

To introduce one of our main guys, the one that just spoke was Takeshi Yamamoto, age 23, fresh out of college and working as a detective at the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Headquarters. His usual attire consisted of a white business shirt, a blue striped tie, dark gray slacks, and a matching blazer. Though he usually did not wear the blazer and had his sleeves rolled up casually. Yamamoto was a really friendly guy and was well-liked by his co-workers.

The only big issue with him was, as his superiors found out, his lack of deducing powers and great naïveté, despite being an officer in the murder investigation division. In order to counter that, his superiors had apparently grabbed a physically capable guy from the strategic planning division(or whatever division those 'brainy guys', as Yamamoto put it, hung out in) and decided to stick him with Yamamoto. Yamamoto didn't mind, as he had needed a partner assigned to him sooner or later anyway, what with the dangerous nature of his job and division.

The other guy, Ryohei Sasagawa, was a friendly officer from the drug trafficking investigation division. He had been working at the station for a few years before Yamamoto was hired, so that is why the latter referred to him as 'senpai'.

"So who's the lucky guy that gets to work with you?" Ryohei asked as he caught up to Yamamoto and slung his arm over his shoulder.

"Ah it's some guy from the brainy guys division. I forgot his name though." Yamamoto took out a sheet of paper from his pocket to re-check. "Oh yeah, this guy."

He showed the print-out of the information he had received about his new partner to his friend.

_Name: Kyoya Hibari_

_Age: 25_

_Height: 170cm_

_Division: Negotiations and Strategic planning_

"He looks like a pretty friendly guy." Yamamoto piped out happily, despite the fact that the guy in the picture on the print-out was certainly _not_ smiling. "He must be really smart too. I hope we get along."

"Hey I know this guy." Ryohei exclaimed after reading over the profile, "He's a real extreme guy."

Yamamoto looked at his senpai for clarification, "what do you mean, Sasagawa-senpai?"

Ryohei took his arm off Yamamoto's shoulder as he started punching the air in front of him enthusiastically. "If you ever want a fight, he's the man to go to! Though admittedly his house was confusing while we were in middle school whenever I went to challenge him, so I'm glad he's switched to a simple apartment now."

"Wow you've known him for that long? Are you guys good friends then?" Yamamoto exclaimed happily. Maybe the three of them could go out drinking or whatever after work sometime.

"No." a curt voice denied immediately from behind them. Yamamoto and Ryohei turned around to see the topic of their conversation standing there with a deep frown etched into his features.

Unlike Yamamoto and Ryohei, Hibari was dressed very neatly. Hibari wore a white shirt, a tie that was such a dark plum shade that it almost looked black, a gray knit vest, a pair of steel-rimmed glasses, and a black blazer as well as black slacks that went along with the rest of his attire.

"Ah Hibari! How are you doing this extremely bright morning?" Ryohei greeted the grumpy looking man enthusiastically, "So I hear you will start working with Yamamoto here today, am I right?"

Hibari paused for a moment, and furrowed his eyebrows in a rare display of confusion before his expression changed to one of irritation as he turned on his heel. "You bastard…" he growled at the man that had just walked out of the door next to him, grabbing his collar threateningly. "what did you do?"

"Hey hey Kyoya! Calm down." Dino laughed nervously, holding his hands up in defense as Hibari tried to choke him. "It… it was all for the best. Yamamoto-kun here needed a partner, and you were the best one around for the position! I know you're great at negotiations and strategizing, but I felt it was such a waste for a guy like you to stay in a physically tame division like that."

"I never approved this." Hibari glowered at the chief, "and I never would have."

"That's why I never asked." Dino muttered to himself while looking away. He then grabbed the angry man's hand and removed it from his collar. As he straightened his shirt out again, he clapped his hands together in apology. "I'm really sorry Kyoya! But believe me when I say it's for the best. I really believe crime would go down in this city, and many more murderers will be caught if you work there. And I also think Yamamoto-kun there will be the perfect partner for you. Haha…"

Hibari paused before he glowered at Dino, then Yamamoto, who was frozen to the spot at the unexpected (but seemingly expected) violence directed towards one of the highest ranking administrators in the police, and then Ryohei, who looked surprised at Hibari's confusion.

"I don't plan on holding hands and playing catch the bad guy with anyone." He spat before he punched Dino in the face, causing him to topple over, and kicked him in the gut as if to make sure he fell completely to the ground. Hibari then walked off calmly, carefully making sure to step on poor Dino's fingers on the way out.

"He-Hey, are you alright, Mr. Cavallone?" Yamamoto asked worriedly, running over to Dino, as Ryohei did the same. Yamamoto then looked up towards the retreating figure that had just beat up their superior, and called out, "See you later Hibari-san!"

Yamamoto thought he saw the figure slow down for a moment, but guessed it was part of his imagination, since Hibari had already disappeared moments later.

"Haha don't worry too much about me guys." Dino said apologetically as he picked himself up from the ground while rubbing his stomach painfully. "I'm used to it, and I certainly deserved that."

"Used to it?" Yamamoto asked disbelievingly, and besides, Dino certainly did not deserve such violence.

"That's how that guy usually acts." Ryohei added matter-of-factly. "He's a really extreme guy in many ways."

"Will I be able to work with him? I think he might hate me already." Yamamoto asked worriedly. A partner was somebody he had to trust his life and mission with after all, and vice versa. Yamamoto was already doubting whether or not that trust could go either way.

"You guys will be alright." Dino reassured him, patting the boy on the back gently, "though it might be a little rough in the beginning, I'm sure you guys will sort it out in your own way. And I doubt he hates you, because he did not react too badly to the news."

"What's a bad reaction to the news for him then?" Yamamoto asked nervously, since beating up the superior who assigned you to the position before denying said position and walking away looked like a pretty bad reaction to him.

Dino chucked nervously at his slip-up as he just replied quickly, "Well… don't worry about it Yamamoto-kun. We're counting on you!" he then looked at his watch before his eyes widened in shock, "Oh crap! I'm really sorry but I've got to run. I have another meeting in 3 minutes. Bye guys!"

"Well I should get to work soon too." Ryohei said to Yamamoto as Dino ran off hurriedly, "Bye kiddo, and good luck on your first day with Hibari! Come back in one piece! Hahahah!"

"Thanks senpai! Good day to you too!" Yamamoto waved as he watched his senpai walk off. He then realized that his usual smile felt a bit strained as his senpai's comment about coming back in one piece didn't sound as lighthearted as it should have.

Yamamoto walked into the elevator as he headed towards his designated division. He wasn't sure what to think about his new partner-to-be. Though the man had looked tame at first, Yamamoto's stereotype of Hibari developed by his former placement and physical appearance had been shattered to pieces within moments of encountering him for the first time. Additionally, it seemed as if the upper authorities in the police force seemed to be used to, and even tolerated, the man's violent behavior. This was unheard of from Yamamoto's previous experience within the law enforcement business. He wondered worriedly if Hibari would even show up, or if he should be worried if he actually showed up.

Yamamoto slapped himself in the face with both his hands and shook his head to clear his thoughts. All this worrying was too uncharacteristic of him and was making him frustrated with himself. As the chime signaling the elevator getting to his destination sounded, Yamamoto plastered on his usual beaming smile and immediately felt better as the familiar hallway presented itself from the opening elevator door. He strolled out and opened the door to his division and walked over to his desk when he noticed something different.

On his desk was an official looking sheet of paper, and as Yamamoto picked it up to look at it, he saw with astonishment that it was an order to move divisions. Yamamoto shook his head in shock before he re-read it just in case he had misread it. As he looked closer, he realized with relief that it wasn't really a move in divisions. _Ah, it only asked me to specialize a bit more. Let's see, 'special investigations office' of the murder investigation division. That's fi-_ "WHAT?"

Yamamoto dropped the paper in shock as if he had been burned. _The..the… that's…_

This subdivision of the police hadn't existed in years. Legend had it that over a decade ago, there was a special division by itself that consisted of one brilliant but very impersonal man, that many uppers wanted to get rid of, but couldn't because the highest authority of the police force found the man too valuable to let go of. But since the man was so crazy, the uppers used the office to send people to they found unfavorable so these officers would get sick of their job and quit. The office soon became referred to as 'the grave of labor'. But apparently, one man who had been sent there somehow managed to get along with the crazy guy and together, they solved many many difficult cases by using ridiculous antics that most people would get fired in a heartbeat for.

Though long gone, many people whispered and talked about the two policemen's crazy history and urban legend even claimed that anyone who had worked with the brilliant man before the other guy came along all literally died in some way or another.

After the two finally left or retired or disappeared or moved divisions (or whatever happened to them, Yamamoto didn't really know), the division had been shut down, and hadn't been re-established in over 10 years.

"What's wrong Yamamoto?" a co-worker asked worriedly at the uncharacteristic outburst, before picking up and reading the piece of paper that the latter had previously dropped. "Oh my god!"

"Isn't that pretty awesome?" Yamamoto exclaimed after regaining his composure, and starting to gather up his things to get ready to move. "I've only heard stories about this office, but I'm sure it'll be awesome. And besides, fortunately I won't have to move too far away from you guys since I'll just be in that room over there, apparently." Yamamoto pointed towards the wooden door on the other side of room, which had a shiny new placard reading _Special Investigations office_ nailed onto it. Yamamoto could make out there were two names nailed on there as well in smaller print, but although he couldn't see what it said, he had a pretty good guess as to whose names they were.

"Ya...Yamamoto." His co-worker said, putting a hand on his shoulder worriedly, "stay in one piece. And I wish you luck."

Yamamoto frowned a little, as each time he heard that phrase, he was feeling it sounded sillier. The claim that people died going into that division was most likely an urban legend, and he was sure Hibari wouldn't be that bad. Besides, the rest of the stories involved just plain awesomeness. _Well… except for the part where they would constantly get kidnapped and involved in dangerous situations, or where one of the officers almost got blown up by getting caught by a dynamite terrorist, or when the crazy guy got shot by a sniper and almost died, or when…_

Yamamoto blinked as he saw the door to the S.I.(Special Investigations) office open with Hibari walking out with his coat on. "Ah Hibari-san, good morning!" Yamamoto exclaimed, waving over at his new partner, while others who were familiar with Hibari looked at him in fear and awe while others looked at Yamamoto with pity.

"How long are you taking?" Hibari stated rather than asked, glancing over at Yamamoto who was only 2/3 done with packing his stuff. "I'm leaving you behind."

"Wa-wait, where are you going?" Yamamoto asked hurriedly, grabbing his coat, and deciding to finish moving the stuff to his new desk later. He ran after Hibari, who had just walked out the door.

"Kokujyun." Hibari said simply as Yamamoto caught up to him. The latter blinked as he realized that the other had just answered his previous question.

"Why are we going there? Has there been a body found?" Yamamoto asked, frowning. Kokujyun was a pretty small neighborhood, known mostly for the thick forest that murderers or suicidal people ventured into in order to hide bodies, or hide their own bodies. People said that anyone who gets lost in there never manage to find their way back.

Hibari didn't answer as he walked into the elevator and barely waited for Yamamoto to stumble in before he pressed the button for the basement, where the parking garage was.

Yamamoto was slightly put off by the behavior, as Hibari seemingly continued to ignore him and his questions. _No matter what Mr. Cavallone or senpai says, I still think he hates me._ Yamamoto blinked in surprise as Hibari wordlessly tossed him something small. After effortlessly catching it, upon further inspection Yamamoto saw that they were car keys. Immediately understanding what was expected of him, he walked quickly after his new partner who was already walking swiftly towards an ordinary looking, dull silver car.

"We're heading to Kokujyun right?" Yamamoto clarified as he turned the keys and ignited the engine. Hibari did not respond, instead wordlessly looking over at Yamamoto, before quietly moving his gaze over at the built-in GPS device.

"No I don't need that, I know where it is." Yamamoto replied, laughing. He felt proud of himself for successively managing to decipher his new partner's silent language. Perhaps this guy spoke more than the others gave him credit for.

As they rolled out of the garage, Hibari finally spoke with his voice. "Nagisa Minami, age 17, found dead in Kokujyun forest this morning. All physical evidence at the scene undeniably points to a suicide."

"Huh?" Yamamoto blinked, confused, "then why are we investigating it?"

Hibari continued his brief as if he had not heard Yamamoto at all, "Several eyewitnesses have seen the same Nagisa Minami get involved in a hit and run the day before as she ran into the street in an attempt to save a cat. She had been hospitalized that night, and was on the brink of death. However, the next day she was found in Kokujyun forest, dead from a seemingly deliberate overdose of narcotics, and physically unscathed."

Yamamoto's eyes widened in shock. He hurriedly stepped on the brakes so he wouldn't rear-end the car in front of them. "Wha-? But didn't you just say-"

"Quiet, I know what I just said." Hibari snapped, finally showing a hint of the short temper he had displayed earlier with Dino. "The heavily injured Nagisa Minami at the hospital had disappeared in the dark hours of the morning, and hasn't been found since. Though the DNA evidence from the blood samples taken during her hospital stay confirm that she was the real one. However, the idiots that handled the case of the Nagisa Minami in the forest quickly wrapped it up as a suicide case, unaware of the fact that she was supposed to have been involved in a hit-and-run the day before, most likely since that involved a different division."

"But we still have the body right? Can't we get more answers from investigating that if the circumstances are so suspicious?" Yamamoto suggested, then blanched as he realized a moment later why Hibari had sounded so angry, "Wait, you don't mean they-"

"Nagisa Minami's parents asked her body to be cremated, and thinking it was a suicide, the incompetent morons complied 'swiftly and respectfully'." Hibari practically snarled, crushing the piece of paper he had been inspecting earlier.

Yamamoto groaned, wondering how little communication the police force over at Kokujyun must have in order to make such a big mistake. "Then how are we supposed to investigate this case? It seems to be a lost cause." Yamamoto was about to complain more before he stopped himself, almost shivering at the piercing gaze directed at the side of his face from the passenger seat of the car. "I mean... how will we get a warrant to investigate this case? Unfortunately it sounds wrapped up already in legal terms."

Yamamoto definitely shivered as he heard his partner turn his gaze back towards the road with a hmph, before he simply replied, "What are you talking about? We won't need one."

He could practically hear the grin in the strange man's voice.

_Oh god, this is going to be bad._ But then Yamamoto realized that his heart was pounding. _Is it so wrong to be excited at the prospect of breaking so many rules? I am a police officer after all._ He thought, before he grinned widely to himself. _Nah._

That was the day Yamamoto realized that perhaps he was in for a thrilling and rough ride when he was partnered with Hibari in their very own subdivision.

He also realized that what made his partner so different from the rest of the police force was his logic, which was wholly improper for anybody in law enforcement:

_Fuck the rules._

And that was also the day Yamamoto realized that perhaps, he too, agreed.


	2. Case 1: Nagi

AU: In which Hibari and Yamamoto are policemen, and partners on the job.

Loosely based on a popular Japanese police show called Aibou

Disclaimer: I do not own KHR or Aibou

Just as Yamamoto was about to turn into the driveway leading up to the main police station of Kokujyun town, Hibari surprised him by grabbing the steering wheel and keeping it in place so the car wouldn't turn. "Wha-that's dangerous Hibari-san!"

"Keep going straight." Hibari just ordered in response, before tapping in an address into the car's GPS. "We're going somewhere else first."

Yamamoto arched an eyebrow in question, but complied with Hibari's orders, and followed the GPS machine's directions as it led them away from the area with all the business offices.

Usually, it was protocol to directly report to the police station of the city they were investigating in, and greet their fellow officers there to let them know of their arrival. It was considered common etiquette as well as a chance to get basic information on the case, and the practice was generally not abandoned unless for dire consequences where communication was not possible.

As the car started to enter a more residential area with large, fancy houses adorning the streets, they pulled up in front of an extra schmancy house. It had a lovely stone wall surrounding the property, an iron gate tipped with spikes, and a beautiful garden inside that one could catch a glimpse of through the bars of the gate. Beyond the garden, one could make out the outlines of a gorgeous mansion peeking out through breaks between the large, leafy canopies of the trees that were growing on the property as well.

Yamamoto whistled, impressed at the wealth in front of him while Hibari just

walked passed him and pressed the interphone as if the scene did not affect him at all. For all Yamamoto knew, it may not have.

Hibari finally explained where they were as they waited for a response. "We are at the victim's house to speak with her parents."

"Huh? We can just do that?" Yamamoto asked worriedly.

Hibari just shrugged in response, "maybe not."

Yamamoto coughed, _oh yea, this is 'I don't give a fuck about the rules' guy._ It was going to take a while to get used to this defenestration of basic principles that had been hammered into Yamamoto's mind since birth.

"**This is the Minami residence. How may I help you?" **a slightly accented female voice spoke over the interphone in response.

"My name is Kyoya Hibari from the Police Department, and I would like to have a moment with the master and mistress of this house to speak about the circumstances surrounding their late daughter." Hibari spoke curtly, before Yamamoto noticed something he had forgotten to mention and moved next to him to speak into the interphone as well.

"Here with his partner, Takeshi Yamamoto, also from the police. We just wanted to clarify a few things so that Nagisa-san may rest peacefully." Yamamoto added with a much friendlier and sympathetic voice. Suspicious as the circumstances were, the family had just lost a daughter after all.

Hibari glared at him before he pushed the grinning Yamamoto away.

Though it seemed the sympathy had worked, as they heard the voice break a little as the lady on the other side struggled to respond coherently. **"Ye-yes sirs, poor, dear, Lady Nagisa... Unfortunately master is not in but the mistress will see you. I will unlock the gate now so you sirs may come inside. Please allow me a moment to go greet you personally, and I will lead you two gentlemen to the house." ** There was then a click as the interphone disconnected, and several other noises as the gate automatically unlocked and then smoothly swept open on its own.

As soon as he was sure the connection to the interphone on the other end had been cut off, Hibari grabbed Yamamoto's collar and brought the other's face closer to him in anger. _"What did you do that for?"_ Hibari hissed, "_If you want to keep your job, keep your mouth shut and don't offer a name._" He then let Yamamoto go and shoved him away again, as they saw a young lady in the distance hurrying towards them.

"Haha, Hibari-san, were you worried about me?" Yamamoto asked lightheartedly, "But we're partners now. I can't have you take all the credit for rule-breaking on your own."

Hibari glared back at him in return to silence him, as the girl got closer to them. She looked to be about in her late teens to early 20s, and had a round, cute face with large eyes. She had black hair with long pigtails, and a seemingly shy demeanor.

From the accent they had heard earlier on the interphone, as well as judging by her looks, Yamamoto guessed she was probably Chinese.

"Thank you for letting us in." Yamamoto greeted her, while Hibari looked at her silently from behind him while narrowing his eyes. "My name is Yamamoto, and this is Hibari." Yamamoto glanced back momentarily to see if the latter had shown any particular dislike towards being referred to without an honorific, but since he looked angry as usual, he figured it was ok. Truth be told, he probably did not care about such details.

"Y-yes. Please do not mind, as it is my job. Additionally, I would like to see Lady Nagisa's case cleared up as well. What has happened sounds kind of scary." The girl stammered back, blushing as she seemed to notice Hibari's suspicious gaze. "Please come with me. I shall direct you two gentlemen over to the mistress." She bowed deeply at them before turning around hurriedly. Before she got very far, however, Hibari finally decided to speak.

"Hey, what's your name?"

Yamamoto blinked in surprise as he glanced over at his scowling partner. _Haha, how surprising. Is she his type?_

His obliviousness really knew no bounds.

The girl turned around again, and noticing it was Hibari who had spoken, she turned bright red, before answering quickly, "How rude of me! I am sorry. My name is I-Pin, and I used to be Lady Nagisa's personal maid until…"

"Oh, you were her personal maid?" Yamamoto piped up, his interest perking at this detail. Maybe it would be productive to listen to what she had to say about the case while they had the chance. By the time he had glanced over at Hibari to try and gage if he had thought the same thing as well, it was pretty clear what he thought.

"Forget the mistress for the moment being. Let's hear what you think first." Hibari said, grinning mischievously, "is there a place we can speak without having any rats or little bugs listening in?"

Realizing the implication behind his words, I-Pin made a troubled expression. That said it all. There wasn't.

"Make an excuse." Hibari answered in response to her silent reaction, before turning towards Yamamoto, "We'll be waiting outside." Hibari then turned right around and headed towards the car, as I-Pin nodded and hurried back towards the mansion.

"He-hey, Hibari!" Yamamoto called after him, confused. He then hurried back towards the car as well, following the other man. Hibari ignored him and just climbed back into the passenger seat of the car again, quickly closing the door in Yamamoto's face. Yamamoto hurriedly let himself into the driver's seat as well; curious as to what his partner had to say.

Before Yamamoto could speak, however, Hibari wordlessly dropped his own seat down and started checking the various corners of the car, even getting out again to look into the trunk as well, almost as if he were looking for something. He seemed to finish just as I-Pin hastily came back. Hibari wordlessly opened the door for her to get into the back seat as she blushed and practically jumped in in her haste. "Pull out." Hibari just said, as he came back into the car.

"Wha-wait, what's going on?" Yamamoto asked, confused beyond words. It was almost as if the two were afraid of something. "We're not kidnapping her are we?"

"_No._" Hibari snapped, glaring at the ridiculous notion. "Now leave this area. We'll talk after."

"Alright, if you say so." Yamamoto replied, turning on the engine. He really hoped his partner knew what he was doing. Yamamoto didn't know why they had to take the girl out just to talk to her about the case. Why couldn't they just speak to her at the mansion?

"So" Hibari finally spoke, turning around to look at the girl as Yamamoto drove, "Does the Minami residence regularly hire bodyguards as maids and butlers as well or were they really protective of their daughter in particular?"

"….neither. Why do you ask?" I-Pin replied, looking away, slightly confused as well as a little nervous. She had thought at first that he was just an overly suspicious man that believed the Minami family to be a part of a conspiracy to cover up their daughter's death, and that he thought I-Pin would know and tell the truth. And she had been fully prepared to do so. She had been planning to leave the family's service soon anyway.

There should be no way a person on the right side of the law would know of her true profession just by looking at her. _Even if he looks exactly like..._

"Eh?" Yamamoto interrupted, surprised at what Hibari had said, "Where did you get that notion Hibari?"

Hibari just glared at the driver in response. "I-Pin here is one of the most capable assassins in China. There is no way she would be working at the Minami residence as a maid as her real profession."

_Wh-wha-what the hell? He knew?_ I-Pin sputtered internally as she coughed in shock. In contrast, Yamamoto just laughed before replying, "Really? Are you sure? She looks too cute to be an assassin."

Choosing to ignore Yamamoto's idiotic response, Hibari then turned to glare at the shocked girl again, "What are you doing there? And tell us what you know about the case. Were you involved?" To Yamamoto's horror, he then cocked a gun at the girl, "and try anything funny. I can assure you I can kill you before you can kill me."

"Hibari! What are you doing? You shouldn't threaten an innocent girl like that!" Yamamoto exclaimed, slamming on the brakes and pulling over to try and swipe the gun from him.

"No Yamamoto-san, it is fine. I shall speak." I-Pin replied looking back at them determinedly after recovering from her shock. For some odd reason, she felt as if she could trust these people, and her master always told her that her intuition was important. Also, she may be able to get some information that she wanted to know as well out of them. Especially since Hibari seemed to know more than the average law-enforcer. Perhaps he would know something about what was going on here better than she did. "The truth of the matter is, I have come here to investigate the strange occurrences happening around the area. I personally had no part in the disappearance of Lady Nagisa."

Hibari narrowed his eyes at this while Yamamoto gaped at her in amazement. "Wait, Hibari, were you being serious when you said this chick was an assassin?"

"Shut up." Hibari said impatiently at Yamamoto as he slapped away the hand that had previously been trying to grab at him. "Continue. You said disappearance?"

"Yes. Lady Nagisa was not the one found in the forest. I do not know who it was exactly, but I am guessing it was another unfortunate girl around the same age who had happened to commit suicide the morning after Lady Nagisa disappeared. Since the mistress of the house did not particularly like Lady Nagisa and had always wanted her gone, she used this chance disappearance of her daughter and the dead girl to claim that she was dead for good."

Yamamoto gasped at the terrible story. "How can she do that with her own daughter? Does she know where she went? And what about the family of the girl that actually died?"

Hibari frowned at this, before asking, "proof?"

"U-unfortunately we have no proof of the dead girl not having been Lady Nagisa." I-Pin stammered, blushing again at the direct attention from the policeman. "by the time I had been notified of her supposed death, the body had already been cremated."

"So how do you know it wasn't her then?" Yamamoto asked, his interest piquing as to why this girl sounded so sure of her outrageous story, "and what occurrences were you investigating before?"

"Those previous occurrences are precisely why I knew that Lady Nagisa was not the one dead in the forest." I-Pin replied, looking down while twisting her hands in her skirt. She almost looked angry. "When I heard of Lady Nagisa's disappearance, I immediately went to her bedside to see if I could find any leads as to where she had gone." I-Pin then sighed and paused before continuing, almost as if she was afraid of the reaction she would get when she said her next line. "All I found was a doodle of a pineapple on the otherwise empty notepad next to her bed." Although it sounded ridiculous even to her, she was curious as to whether the angry policeman would know what that note had meant.

"Pineapple?" Yamamoto blinked, scratching his chin in confusion. "How is that proof she was abducted? Maybe she felt like eating pineapples?"

"It is consistent with other disappearances or deaths occurring recently, where in the aftermath there is always a pineapple reference. It used to happen in China first, before it stopped and started around this area in Japan. So I had come here to investigate it. I really have no idea-" I-Pin stopped speaking as she saw the infuriated expression on Hibari's face.

"Hibari?" Yamamoto looked over at his partner's face as well as he saw I-Pin's surprised expression. "Hey, something wrong?"

His expression really should have said it all. There was clearly unfavorable recognition in his face after all.

"Do you know who he is?" I-Pin exclaimed, there had been no one who had any clue before in her investigations as to what this fruit meant or who it pointed to. It was a good thing she had trusted her intuition this time with exposing herself and her information to these people. "I would really like to know. They had been a real nuisance to us."

"To you and the rest of the goddamn world." Hibari spat, before stopping his short rant and continuing after re-composing himself.

"Fine, since you told us information, I'll tell you who it is. His name is Mukuro Rokudo, an internationally acclaimed criminal that had somehow managed to escape from his underwater prison in Vendice a year ago."

He then turned to Yamamoto, "Anyway, the case here of Nagisa Minami cannot be completely solved for now, as the girl most likely went and disappeared with that bastard." He then glanced back at I-Pin before adding on, "However, for the time being let us go have a chat with the idiots over at the Kokujyun police station. Perhaps we can clarify who the actual dead girl was."

"Ri-righto." Yamamoto replied, turning on the engine once again, and heading towards the station. "Is that alright with you I-Pin-san?"

She nodded dumbly. The policeman had known much more about the guy she and her organization had been pursuing without any luck for several weeks. She was starting to wonder in reverse who the hell _this_ guy was. _Perhaps I will write to master about this man_. She thought.

Anyway, at this moment in time, all she could do was play her part as the personal maid again and tell the police here what she knew so the poor dead girl's family would know what really happened.

…

After all was said and done, the dead girl was identified as most likely another local teenager who had been missing for days. Unfortunately, since there had been no evidence to prove that was true it only ended in a guess, with the Minami family getting infuriated at their maid but managing to quash any sort of legal retaliatory action. Of course I-Pin could not really have a strong justification for her suspicions because that would mean she would have to mention the pineapple symbol, and that would call too much attention to her if someone were to figure out what she was on about and question how she knew to focus on that.

"Hey I-Pin." Yamamoto called after the girl as she was about to leave after a quick goodbye. "Thank you for helping us out. And I'm sorry about your friend."

Hibari silently looked at her as well before nodding respectfully.

"Th-thank you." I-Pin replied, almost tearing up at the mention of Nagisa. _Ah, they knew we were friends? I really should not be making close friends on the job, but-_

"How did you know?"

"I don't know? Just kind of seemed like it." Yamamoto replied, laughing while scratching the back of his head.

To which Hibari replied, "You didn't have to do this, yet you did without hesitation. You were clearly planning to expose the situation the moment you got a chance to leave the mansion, even though there is nothing to gain for you by doing so. Only publicity, which you should be shunning."

I-Pin blushed again as Hibari spoke. She really shouldn't be doing that, but what is a girl to do when faced with pretty much the same features of the man she admires the most? "I-I know. I am sorry." She muttered before bowing quickly and running off for good this time after another quick good-bye.

"Hey Hibari." Yamamoto said a few minutes after she disappeared from their site. "I think she likes you."

"Nonsense." Hibari just huffed in response before stalking over to the policeman in charge of the small station. He then proceeded to grab the man's collar, "Cause idiotic mix-ups like this ever again, and I will personally come to bite your head off." He spat at the poor man, who was trembling profusely with moisture building up in his eyes.

"Y-yes sir. Never again."

Hibari then pretty much threw the man off to the side before calmly walking back to the car and letting himself in.

"Hey, you alright there?" Yamamoto asked, grabbing the man's hand and helping him pick himself up off the ground. "But really, this was kind of ridiculous."

Yamamoto then thought to himself for a moment how to make the upset man feel better, before his face lit up and he stuck his hand in his pocket. "Here you go, you can have my last piece of grape candy. This is bound to make anyone feel better." He said brightly, before stuffing it in the dumfounded policeman's hand. Yamamoto then ran over to the car after Hibari, and drove off.

"Grape candy?" The man muttered, looking down at it, wondering if he should feel touched or insulted by the immature gesture. "Lambo-san is not a kid anymore." He grumbled to himself, before opening the wrapper and popping it into his mouth.

…

"So, Hibari." Yamamoto said, voicing out a question while driving, "Who's this Mukuro guy?"

"He is a fucking bastard that needs to die and suffer forever in the deepest depths of hell." Hibari hissed back, surprising Yamamoto with this rare display of unrestrained anger, before continuing on to spew different sorts of ideas of how to permanently maim this guy.

He shuddered internally. _Well, glad I'm not on the receiving end of that hatred._

Yamamoto wondered vaguely if this counted as quality bonding time with Hibari.


	3. Case 2: Basil pt1

AU: In which Hibari and Yamamoto are policemen, and partners on the job.

Loosely based on a popular Japanese police show called Aibou

Disclaimer: I do not own KHR or Aibou

"Hey Hibari!" Yamamoto called over at his partner as he quickly started walking away the moment they got back to headquarters, "Let's have lunch together!"

Yea. After the whole fiasco with Nagisa, I-Pin, and the incompetent police force in Kokujyun, by the time they got back only half a day had passed. Yamamoto was amazed at the speed at which the case had been wrapped up. Usually it would have taken days or even weeks to get to that point if they had tried to go through all the required protocol motions.

"No." Yamamoto sighed disappointedly at the expected reply.

"Well, maybe some other day then." Yamamoto called out toward him again, only to see him gone already.

…

"Hey Yamamoto!" Ryohei called over to his friend as he saw him on his way to the cafeteria. "Let's eat lunch together. How was your first morning with Hibari?"

"Hahaha, pretty exciting to say the least." Yamamoto replied cheerfully, "He really is one-of-a-kind."

"Eh? Yamamoto, you're working with Hibari-san?" a shrill voice exclaimed from behind them in horror. "A-are you alright?"

"Ah, hey Tsuna!" Yamamoto smiled in response, "Yea, he's my new partner. Pretty cool, right?"

"I-if you say so Yamamoto. You really are something." Tsuna stammered, shuddering at the prospect of having to work so closely with the hostile guy. "But please be careful, I've heard many rumors about him."

"Hmm? What rumors?" Yamamoto asked curiously as they each grabbed trays of food and sat down at a remote table in the cafeteria. "I've actually never really heard about him until I was assigned to work with him."

"Well, for one I've heard that all the past partners that Hibari-san's worked with all died or disappeared." Tsuna said quietly, shuddering. "and that is why he hadn't worked with a partner for so long, because people believed his partnership to be jinxed."

"Heh? How strange." Ryohei responded, furrowing his eyebrows. "Hibari's only had to work with a partner once before from what I know."

"Ah really? It must just be rumors building themselves up…" Tsuna replied, chuckling nervously, "But what happened to his last partner?"

"I've forgotten." Ryohei said bluntly, "I just remember he was an extremely weird guy and he and Hibari were always literally trying to get each other killed on every mission."

"EEh? The truth is pretty bad too!" Tsuna exclaimed, before grabbing Yamamoto's shoulder, "Yamamoto, ask to get a partner change! I don't want you to die!"

"Relax Tsuna, he doesn't seem to be such a bad guy. He also didn't try to kill me." Yamamoto replied, laughing casually and not giving any heed at all to his friend's concerns, "Besides, it was Mr. Cavallone who assigned us together. I don't think he would partner Hibari with anyone if he thought he would just kill them."

"Eh? Dino-san did?" Tsuna was pretty familiar with the man because he was a good friend of Tsuna's father, and had always treated him when he was younger as if he were his little brother. However, despite how great of a person Tsuna thought Dino was, he was having doubts about his decision. "Somehow that doesn't really make me feel better… Dino-san is too nice sometimes after all."

"But those two should know each other well." Ryohei added on, "That guy was Hibari's home tutor during middle and high school."

"What?" Tsuna exclaimed, and Yamamoto blinked at this unexpected information.

"Yea." Ryohei laughed, reminiscing, "I remember they were always having extreme fights when I tried to go bother Hibari."

_What kind of tutoring was that?_ Tsuna thought in horror. He was starting to get a newfound respect for his figurative older brother. _And to think he stuck with it for several years!_

"Haha really?" Yamamoto just said, chuckling nonchalantly again, "He really is something."

Suddenly they heard a loud crash and couple groans as well as an embarrassed voice apologizing from the front of the cafeteria. They looked over to see one of the objects of their discussion scratching his blonde mop of hair in shame.

"Ah, Dino-san!" Tsuna exclaimed, trying to get up and go over to help, but was stopped as Dino gestured at him to stay there. Soon after, he himself joined them at their table.

"Hey guys." He sighed, scratching his head again, before moving his gaze over at Yamamoto, "So, how was your first morning with Kyoya? I'm sorry to have thrown you at this so haphazardly, but I felt you could handle it. But I'm glad you're still around, and you seem to be relatively unscathed." Dino said, moving his head around as if to double check to see if Yamamoto had been maimed in any way. "No kidnappings? Attempted murders? Dangerous contacts? Near-death situations? Blatant law-breaking?"

"Nah not really. Everything's been fine Mr. Cavallone." Yamamoto just replied simply, beaming. I-Pin wouldn't count as a dangerous contact right? And Hibari's death threat wasn't so serious either, and protocol wasn't law ei-. Well, maybe there were a few instances of law breaking, but he didn't need to talk about that did he? "I don't see why you guys seem to be so scared of Hibari though. He's actually a pretty cool guy to work with. And nothing like that's happened." He laughed, "Mr. Cavallone, you should know those kinds of things don't happen on a daily basis. Only in police shows and such."

"I-I see. You're right." Dino laughed nervously, while shifting his eyes uncomfortably. Yamamoto was in for a nasty surprise, it seemed. From Dino's past experiences, 'basic logic' never applied whenever Kyoya was involved. "Well, unfortunately I've gotta go now guys. Just wanted to check up on things, and I'm glad things are going all right so far. Bye! And Yamamoto, I wish you luck in the afternoon. I just saw Kyoya right before I came here and he seemed happier than usual, so I believe he has found a case to work on." _Most likely a pretty violent one too._

"P-pretty happy?" Tsuna stammered, wondering what that implied, before looking over at his friend doubtfully again. 

"Hey, that's exciting. Thanks Mr. Cavallone!" Yamamoto exclaimed, before realizing something and finishing his food quickly before standing up, "That means I've gotta hurry and get back before Hibari tries to leave me again. Bye guys!"

…

As Yamamoto ran out into the hallway, he saw his partner walking on the farther end of it, so he waved to get his attention. "Hey Hibari! I've heard we've got a new-"

He was promptly cut off, however, as he was forced to immediately dodge the latter's attack, as he had run at him with a tonfa a split second after his greeting. Yamamoto instinctively stepped aside and pivoted to grab ahold of one of the weapons. "woah man. Calm down! What did I do?" he asked, surprised and a little confused.

His confusion intensified as Hibari just smirked at this, and soon turned to just thoughts of pain as Hibari hit him in the gut with his other tonfa after twisting the other one out of Yamamoto's grip. "That's good, you seem to have some skill." He said, before looking back at his befuddled partner. "That makes things a little easier. Let's go."

…

"Why did you attack me earlier? That kind of hurt you know." Yamamoto complained as he stumbled after Hibari, who had walked quickly out the front doors of the large building. "And where are we going?"

"Listen." Hibari hissed quietly as he grabbed Yamamoto's collar again, "Run home and pack your bags for an overnight trip. We're taking a little tour bus to Kyoto." He then shoved the guy away again before slapping a bus ticket into his hand along with a small list. "Don't be late, and don't forget those things." Hibari then disappeared into the crowd before Yamamoto could recover from his confusion, which had reached grand proportions.

"Ah… ok?"

Yamamoto went to the bus station with a duffel bag in tow at the time that was written on his ticket. The paper that had been handed to him also had directions and a brief explanation written on it. Yamamoto was to act as a regular run-of-the-mill college student, who really loved Kyoto and had finally managed to save up enough money and put aside a time to go on this tour. Hibari said he will be something else but they were to pretend to not to have had prior contact. Both of them had bought tickets separately on their own and had just happened to get the seat next to one another.

From the sound of it, Yamamoto figured it was supposed to be some sort of clandestine mission, but he wished there had been more information. These types of missions were dangerous, and too little or too much information could kill you or keep you alive.

Despite Hibari telling him to not look for him because they were both supposed to have come alone, Yamamoto could not help but give a discreet glance at the crowd of tour participants to see if he would be able to find him. However, after failing to locate him, Yamamoto just gave up and got on the bus to wait. They would be sitting next to each other anyway.

As he got to his seat, Yamamoto blinked as he saw someone else already sitting between it and the window. He frowned in confusion. "Uh, kid-" Yamamoto started, before he stopped himself in shock.

Said 'kid' had silenced him with an eerily familiar glare, and Yamamoto soon realized that the high schooler that was sitting there was actually his partner. Hibari had taken off his glasses, and had changed his attire to a local high school's uniform. His hair was a little messier than before, making him seem even younger.

Yamamoto just put his bag up in his compartment overhead, and sat down, amazed at Hibari's transformation. He cleared his throat to retry talking to him, "Uh, so what's your name? I guess we'll be next to each other on this trip. My name is Takeshi Okada by the way." Yamamoto smiled, looking over at Hibari. He had been told to change his name after all.

Hibari frowned in response, "leave me alone, herbivore." He snapped, before closing his eyes and yawning.

Yamamoto scratched his head in confusion. Everything about this guy was so hard to figure out. But figuring he would tell him his 'name' whenever necessary, Yamamoto just gave up trying to socialize with his partner for the time being.

He grabbed one of the thin blankets provided to each of them and put it over his seatmate's sleeping form.

…

After a couple hours, and after Yamamoto had found himself starting to nod off in his seat as well, he blinked as he felt something on his thigh underneath his blanket. Realizing it was Hibari's finger poking him, Yamamoto frowned but didn't dare look over or indicate on the outside that he had noticed. Instead, he grunted to give an indication that he was conscious. Hibari himself had not moved an inch from his previous position, still slumped over against the window in a faux sleep.

The finger then started to trace something in place. Yamamoto frowned as he tried to figure out what it was about. He seemed to be…. Writing? That was it. Hibari did claim in his earlier note that he was not sure what would be going on, but that he would communicate to him what he knew once he did. _Ah, it's English_… Yamamoto furrowed his eyebrows in concentration. It really wasn't his strong point, but he knew the letters at least. _V…A….R….I…A…?_

_Varia? What the hell is-_

Yamamoto jerked awake in shock. Earning himself an annoyed grunt from Hibari, who opened his eyes at the noise and rubbed them in an attempt to clear them.

_Wha-wha-what the hell?_ _Is he talking about THE Varia? What is such a dangerous assassination group doing in Japan? And what do they and this bus tour have anything to do with each other?_

That was when they heard a huge explosion from outside the bus, and lots of screaming as the bus driver swerved violently to try and avoid the fiasco that had started in front of them. Unfortunately, the swerve was too sudden, as they all realized in horror that the bus was starting to topple over. In a split decision, Yamamoto grabbed the equally shocked Hibari and shielded him from the impact before something fell on his head, and all went black.

…

"Hey hey what is this?" a sinister voice cackled as a dangerous looking man with silver, long, hair entered the lopsided bus amidst all the screaming and chaos going on around it. He could hear the faint noises of an ambulance and police cars in the distance getting louder as they got closer. "Where is the messenger?"

Of course he heard no coherent answer, as most of the passengers were unconscious or too horrified to speak. Squalo looked around with narrowed eyes. He only knew the name, gender, and general age range of the person who was supposed to have the treasured Vongola rings, and from Mammon's skill, he knew they were on this bus. However, there were definitely too many passengers on the bus who fit that description to clarify each and every one in the time he had left.

In frustration, Squalo grabbed his phone to call a couple comrades to help him out. "VOOOOI! Mosca, Levi, bring yourselves over here! Since the idiot Mammon can't tell us what this messenger bastard looks like, I've been left with too many candidates to question with too little time! We're taking them all!" He yelled, before unceremoniously grabbing a nearby unconscious college student and slinging him over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes.

"Hey, what is this?" Squalo yelled as he saw that there had been another body underneath it, and this one was conscious and glaring daggers at him. Without giving the boy a chance to react, he grabbed his collar to inspect his face. "You look like you want to rip my throat apart, brat. I like it!" Hibari responded by spitting in his face, causing Squalo to bristle in anger, "You fucking brat! If I didn't know if you had the fucking rings or not, I would have killed you and your weak buddy here in a second! The moment we get what we need, I'm slitting your throat first." To Squalo's shock and unpleasant surprise, the high school student merely made a chilling, feral grin before drooping off into unconsciousness as well. Squalo visibly blanched at this, and turned around as his two comrades arrived. "You take him, I don't like him." He snapped, tossing the unconscious Hibari at Levi.

"Grab everyone's who's male, and who looks to be around 15 to 20 years old. I've heard the Japanese are difficult to judge age, so be careful and when in doubt, grab!" Squalo barked angrily, before grabbing one more guy and running off, and gesturing the others to do the same before the authorities arrived to make matters worse.

As the local emergency vehicles arrived and a crowd formed, with the press rushing to convey to the nation the big scoop on the tragedy that had occurred, only one yellow birdie was quickly leaving the scene, unnoticed by all.

…

Dino sighed, and stretched as he put down his pen after hours of doing paperwork. He then looked up at the clock and sighed. It was 5:30pm already, and many of the day workers were probably leaving, and switching shifts with the fewer evening workers. Dino still had lots more to do, since he stood above many other people. He turned on the tv in his office though for a little break, just in case there was anything interesting on the news. He almost choked on the coffee he was about to sip on as he saw the big headline exclaiming the occurrence of a terrorist act in the Kansai area, near Kyoto. _This is another major headache tragedy…_. Dino complained in his head, feeling bad about putting it in such a way, but the paperwork and the press and the problems that came with these types of things were atrocious. At least it wasn't in Tokyo or actually in the city though, because then the amount of victims would have increased dramatically.

Dino actually choked on his coffee though as he caught a movement in the corner of the screen. That was unmistakably his former student's bird flying away from the scene. He felt his heart stop momentarily as he looked at the screen again, turning the volume up to listen to the information. Dino's stomach dropped as the announcer lady frantically conveyed the situation at the scene, with 1 passenger dead, 2 unconscious and in a dire situation, 4 unconscious but safe, 5 heavily injured and conscious, another 5 with light injuries and conscious, and the rest, 6 people, missing. Although Dino couldn't recognize any of the names that appeared on the screen as the list of victims, he really couldn't trust that his former student was not involved. The bird followed him everywhere after all.

Dino frantically picked up his phone and tried to call him, but to no avail. _Calm down Dino, it's not strange in a normal situation for him to not pick up as well._ Next, he ran towards his computer and logged onto the police database to look up Yamamoto's contact info just in case they were together. They were supposed to have left on a mission together earlier after all. Perhaps they weren't done yet? Dino increasingly got nervous as the dial tone rang again and again with no response.

By the time he received a voice mail request, he was sweating nervously, fearing for the worst.

Grabbing his coat, he left the office after telling his secretary Romario that he will be checking out early for today, and hurriedly pushed the parking garage level button the moment he ran into the elevator.


End file.
